“Oh. My. God!” Tony exclaimed with part exasperation and part admiration. “They’re going at it again? I know Loki’s supposed to have super-Human abilities, but what is up with Hawkeye? Other than the obvious, I mean. The man is a machine!”

On the enormous screen, Clint was grunting like a wild boar as he pounded into Loki, who was on all fours on the bed and moaning with delight.

“Pheromones,” Frigga informed Tony. “When we discovered Loki’s unique condition, we also found that his body was producing thirty times the normal amount of pheromones as an Æsir female. We don’t know if it is constantly at such a level for him, or if it is caused by his pregnancy, or if it only happens during his cycles of fertility… but exposure to it, especially over long periods of time, would no doubt have a significant effect on a Human.”

“Well, that explains it,” Tony said and puffed on his cigar. His spare suit had arrived some time ago, and everyone in the command center had been offered a cigar and a glass of champagne. Fury had given up on maintaining any semblance of order or professionalism, opting to smoke his cigar and fume (both literally and figuratively) while continuing to watch Loki for any suspicious moves. Frigga and Steve did not care to smoke, but they were sipping the champagne with appreciation.

When Loki had vented to Clint about his treatment by Odin and Thor, Frigga had begun to weep. Since she had already given her handkerchief to Loki, Steve handed her his own and settled into the seat beside her.

“Is it true?” he asked her, concerned and somewhat appalled. “Is it really a death sentence for him?”

“I trust it will not be,” Frigga answered as she dabbed at her eyes. “I believe my husband only wants to see Loki change, to truly repent of his deeds… but I do not know. The way he has ignored him… it is not surprising that Loki thinks he has been disowned and… abandoned.”

When Clint confronted Loki about still loving Thor, Steve tried to rationalize it at first as brotherly love; however, when Loki’s responses began to prove otherwise, even Tony grew uncomfortable.

“Um… Is he saying what I think he’s saying?” Tony asked, his eyebrows raised in consternation.

Frigga wiped away a few more tears before replying, “Yes. When the boys entered puberty… Loki was rather adept in spells of concealment by then… and Thor found him to be a willing partner in… experimenting. Of course we put a stop to it, but – my poor Loki! – it is obvious now that being so suddenly separated broke his heart. I waited in vain for him to come to me, to seek some comfort and guidance, but he tried to bear it all on his own… We should have told him then – both of them – that they were not blood brothers… perhaps even allowed their love to flourish, to either fade or grow as it would have naturally. Instead we forced them apart, shocked by what had happened, and did not consider that their affection might have been an inevitable outcome of their being raised together. I never knew how deeply it had hurt Loki to lose Thor’s… attentions.”

“Well, if it’s any consolation,” Tony said, watching the screen, “he seems to have all of Clint’s attention now. Good God, he’s doing the corkscrew! Damn… he’s good… and if Loki wasn’t lying, Hawkeye has better equipment than ol’ Hammertime… maybe even better technique.”

“What? You gotta admit, Clint is doing some impressive work there. God, if I’d known how talented he was, I would’ve let him fuck me! Just listen to Loki – he’s having the time of his life, dammit. If they went at it like this the last time, no wonder Loki got knocked up. Even I might get pregnant after all that!”

“Would you just…!” Steve choked on all the things he wanted to say to Tony and instead fell silent.

As they watched, Tony in awe and Steve with reluctant but irresistible interest, Loki eventually went down on his elbows, then lowered his head to the bed, leaving only his ass raised up for his lover to access. Clint ceased drilling into that ass for a moment to rub his palms tenderly along Loki’s back and ribs.

“You all right?” he asked.

“Mmm… more than all right,” Loki replied with a wan smile. “Don’t stop – I merely needed to take some weight off my shoulders.”

“Getting tired?”

“Uh… a little,” Loki admitted, surprising Frigga. She knew that he rarely ever admitted to any weakness; it was an indication of how much trust he had already placed in Clint.

The archer pulled out of him and rolled him over onto his side, then leaned down for a long, tantalizing kiss. From the way Loki was panting, it was clear that he wanted more, and Clint did not keep him waiting for long. Repositioning himself to lie behind his lover, Clint wrapped an arm under him to hold and caress his chest. After another lingering kiss over Loki’s shoulder, he penetrated him again and wrapped his free hand around Loki’s cock, pulling up on the loose skin in time to his thrusts while rubbing the sensitive tip with his thumb. The cries of ecstasy spilling out from Loki’s lips increased in intensity as Clint continued to stimulate him.

Natasha and Bruce walked into the command center at that point, wondering what the others were doing – but never suspecting them of blatantly spying on the reunited lovers. The buzz Natasha had gotten from her vodka-and-tonic dissipated at once when she recognized the two men on the screen. Bruce began to mutter something profane, but his words died away as Clint intensified his fucking.

“Ah… Ah… Ah!” Loki whimpered with each mind-numbing stroke. His voice rose in proportion to his pleasure, with an almost feminine quality, which seemed to goad Clint to thrust ever harder and bite all over Loki’s pale skin. Natasha felt as though her feet were rooted to the spot; she did not have the chance to leave the room before Loki was coming in bursts of uncontrollable exhilaration. As his high-pitched cries echoed through both rooms, Clint’s guttural grunts grew louder and more spasmodic. His cock slid in and out of Loki in a frenetic rhythm for a minute, then suddenly drove deep and hard into that welcoming ass. Groaning like a giant tree toppling in a storm, Clint shoved his length all the way up to the balls and still continued to push – once, twice, three times – before letting out a long, satiated sigh. Loki was trembling in his arms, spent and thoroughly exhausted.

“So good,” Clint murmured, licking and kissing the red marks he had made on Loki’s back and shoulders as they began to fade. “Every time… so damn good!”

“Mmm…” Loki agreed, twisting around to demand that some of those kisses be placed on his lips as well. Clint gladly obliged him, kissing every part of his lover’s exposed skin, paying special attention to his dimples since they were now visible. Loki was smiling widely and without artifice. When he wrapped his arms around Clint, the chain on his wrists fell across the Human’s back like a possessive talisman. “My dearest Hawk,” he whispered.

Clint smiled back at him. “My beautiful, sexy… lovely Loki.” After engaging him in another slow, deep kiss, Clint combed back Loki’s now sweat-soaked hair with the tips of his fingers. “The fairest of them all.”

Loki’s smile faded at once, replaced by a question that he dared not ask.

“Yes, you are,” Clint answered with conviction, knowing the doubts that had crossed his lover’s mind. “You are the most beautiful man I’ve ever met, and I still can’t believe how lucky I am to make love to you.”

Loki needed to swallow before he could reply, in an attempt to sound lighthearted that did not quite succeed, “Only because… you say the sweetest things.”

“It’s not hard when they’re all true,” Clint insisted, then planted another kiss by Loki’s ear.

The god of mischief flinched and pulled away – or as far as he could while still being cradled in Clint’s strong arms.

“What? What’s the matter?”

Loki shook his head, not trusting his voice since his eyes were filling with tears. He drew in several shuddering breaths while Clint patiently waited for him to start talking again.

“You… You haven’t even seen me… in my true form… as a Jötun… a… a Frost Giant,” Loki finally managed to say, disgust and loathing obvious in his tone.

Clint regarded him with calm blue eyes for a moment before telling him, “Then you’re the most beautiful Frost Giant I’ve ever met.”

“I’m the only Frost Giant you’ve ever met!” Loki retorted.

“Yeah.” Clint pulled him closer and ran one hand down Loki’s hip to his thigh. “But I bet you have the nicest legs and ass of any of them.”

Loki met Clint’s gaze, almost against his will, and drank in the affirmation he found there. As his tears began to fall, forcing him to sniff, he muttered, “Damn hormones!” and seemed at a loss what to do. Clint roughly pulled him close, then wrapped all of his limbs around Loki’s slender body and let him weep against his shoulder.